Paul Kevin Curtis is the Elvis impersonator who became the center of national attention after he was wrongly suspected of sending ricin letters to the president and other officials. He is now speaking to INSIDE EDITION.
The Elvis impersonator at the center of the deadly ricin mystery is now speaking—and—singing out.
Paul Kevin Curtis was celebrating because all charges against him were dropped in the ricin case that sent Washington, D.C. into a panic.
Letters laced with the lethal poison were mailed to President Obama and Mississippi U.S. Senator Roger Wicker.
Curtis told INSIDE EDITION he didn't even know what ricin was until he was arrested by FBI agents and spent nearly a week in jail.
Curtis said, "I was shocked. I just said, 'What? Rice? I don't like rice. I don't eat rice. I don't have rice."
He said he was shocked when his interrogators accused him of being a terrorist.
"I don't think terror has left me, at this point. My heart hasn't slowed to a steady beat, yet," he said.
But on Tuesday, authorities dropped the charges against Curtis, saying they had new information.
The ricin investigation is now focusing on Everett Dutschke. He has reportedly feuded with Curtis for years, and even formed a blues band just to compete with his Elvis impersonation act.
FBI agents in white hazmat suits searched a Tae Kwon Do martial arts studio that once belonged to Dutschke, but no charges have been filed against him and he denied any involvement.
"My family knows I don't have anything to do with this. The people who actually know me know I don't have anything to do with this. And quite frankly, the people who don't know, this is just crazy. This is just insane," Curtis said.
Curtis said whoever is responsible knows him well and set him up.
The ricin letters were signed "I am K.C. and I approve this message"—a catch-phrase he uses in all his letters and emails.
"Someone out there doesn't like me, has no appreciation or value for me. They could just profile me and say, 'You know well, he says this, he writes like this, he does that. Anyone is vulnerable to that," he said.
The 45-year-old Curtis performs his Elvis impersonation at birthday parties and anniversaries, and lives in a house near Elvis' hometown of Tupelo, Mississippi. His white SUV has an Elvis license plate.
Curtis said after his release, he discovered his home in shambles from the FBI search.
"It's unlivable right now. It's unlivable. They haven't even returned my computers, anything," Curtis said.
But this Elvis impersonator is grateful he's not singing "Jailhouse Rock" from prison.
